The “one-trick pony,” as Steelers coach Mike Tomlin calls him, is fifth in the NFL in receiving yards (1,152) and second in yards per catch (20.2).

Mike Wallace’s team-leading ninth touchdown catch Thursday night came on yet another big play from the second-year man with the sublime speed.

But it was anything but Wallace running past an overmatched cornerback and then hauling in a long pass.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Wallace recognized a linebacker blitz on the play that came early in the second quarter with the Steelers leading 3-0.

And Roethlisberger flipped a short pass to Wallace, who made the Panthers pay for playing so far off him by simply running through their secondary on the way to the end zone.

“(Opposing teams) don’t really want me to go deep anymore,” Wallace said after his sixth 100-yard receiving game of the season. “Guys are really far off and they always have a safety over top so it’s kind of hard for me to get deep but you’ve got to always be able to do different things. If you can’t get it one way you’ve got to work hard to get it another way and that’s what I try to do.”

He has done it -– and specifically become a more complete wide receiver -– with such aplomb that Wallace may well make the Pro Bowl.

If nothing else, Wallace has outgrown the “one-trick pony” nickname.

Not that Tomlin, who knows a thing or two about motivating players, has any plans to stop using it.

“I like where he is but he is capable of more,” the fourth-year coach said of Wallace. “He’s a young man in development. This guy has a desire to have a complete game.”

The Steelers were comfortable enough with the development that Wallace made as a rookie to trade Santonio Holmes last April.

But they couldn’t have foreseen how smoothly his transition from a No. 3 wide receiver that primarily went deep to the team’s No. 1 wideout has played out.

Even better for the Steelers: Wallace hardly seemed satisfied after tying Yancey Thigpen for second on the team’s all-time list for 100-yard receiving games in a season.

“I had an OK game,” said Wallace, who caught four passes for 104 yards against the Panthers. “I feel like I should have had 200 yards because that’s the type of player I am and I always want to be the best. I’m always going to search for the ceiling and never be satisfied.”

As for that "one-trick pony" moniker, Wallace smiled and said, “That’s going to be by name for the rest of the year. I don’t care what I do, I don’t think it’s going to change. Hopefully next year I can get me a new name.”

SteelKnight

12-25-2010, 02:22 PM

Personally, I'd like to see that old trick more often. More bombs.

Just imagine what his stats would look like if Ben wasn't missing for those 4 games.

SH-Rock

12-25-2010, 02:40 PM

Personally, I'd like to see that old trick more often. More bombs.

Just imagine what his stats would look like if Ben wasn't missing for those 4 games.

He is now a threat at all levels, which is a lot more important than being a "one trick pony"

jjpro11

12-25-2010, 02:45 PM

Personally, I'd like to see that old trick more often. More bombs.

Just imagine what his stats would look like if Ben wasn't missing for those 4 games.

and the number of times Ben missed Wallace while he was open deep. i love Ben, but his deep ball accuracy is the weakest part of his game

LVSteelersfan

12-25-2010, 03:04 PM

Good riddance Santokio. Don't miss you. Wallace will be unstoppable in the next few years while you will still be dropping every other pass thrown to you. Sure, there will be flashes of brilliance from Holmes, but he will disappoint just as much. Him and Braylon Edwards deserve each other.

SteelKnight

12-25-2010, 03:15 PM

and the number of times Ben missed Wallace while he was open deep. i love Ben, but his deep ball accuracy is the weakest part of his game

Yeah...ben has to work on that...well at least he is not throwing picks.

The article is a little misleading because although Wallace is 5th and only 132 off the lead, the other players haven't played this week. He will drop...but hopefully stay in the top 10. Not having Ben definitely hurt him for 3 of the 4 games.

Good riddance Santokio. Don't miss you. Wallace will be unstoppable in the next few years while you will still be dropping every other pass thrown to you. Sure, there will be flashes of brilliance from Holmes, but he will disappoint just as much. Him and Braylon Edwards deserve each other.

Holmes was geat. I can't stand the tramatic after a non TD catch but that's another story. I just had a sad thought. I was thinking before we would ave never been able to sign Holmes but if Ward retires, we could have. Ward looks like he is on the way out so that would have created extra cash. Hopefully we can lock Wallace down because I think he may be under just a 3 year deal.

SoCalFan

12-25-2010, 03:28 PM

He is clearly making a name for himself.It is exciting and imagine if we had a healthy O-line,with our running game and D,we would be unstoppable!!!Oh yea,I forgot about our kryptonite,BA.........:banging:

grward

12-25-2010, 07:27 PM

I saw a stat while watching the game that Wallace is now second in the yards per attempt category. Anyone know who's first? I guess I was kinda surprised by that.

Riddle_Of_Steel

12-25-2010, 07:36 PM

I saw a stat while watching the game that Wallace is now second in the yards per attempt category. Anyone know who's first? I guess I was kinda surprised by that.

Not sure, will have to check. I am assuming it is some other speedster like the Eagles' DeShaun Jackson or something.

Riddle_Of_Steel

12-25-2010, 07:39 PM

He is now a threat at all levels, which is a lot more important than being a "one trick pony"

I have been debating this one to myself a lot lately.

Sure, it is better for Mike Wallace and his career to become a "compete receiver", but for our team, I think we would benefit most by getting Emmanuel Sanders up to speed as our Holmes replacement, and keep Wallace in the slot where he can continue to humiliate nickel and dime backs for 40 yards a pop.

His greatest asset is his blazing speed and acceleration. Maybe trying to make him into a "complete receiver" could be considered a case of trying to smash the sqaure peg into the round hole?

SH-Rock

12-25-2010, 07:52 PM

I have been debating this one to myself a lot lately.

Sure, it is better for Mike Wallace and his career to become a "compete receiver", but for our team, I think we would benefit most by getting Emmanuel Sanders up to speed as our Holmes replacement, and keep Wallace in the slot where he can continue to humiliate nickel and dime backs for 40 yards a pop.

His greatest asset is his blazing speed and acceleration. Maybe trying to make him into a "complete receiver" could be considered a case of trying to smash the sqaure peg into the round hole?

Whats the problem with having Wallace as a complete receiver and have Sanders as Santonio's replacement. This could open a lot in the offensive playbook, if BA wills.

FanSince72

12-25-2010, 08:57 PM

Wallace as a deep threat was bound to come to an end (as it has) because teams aren't allowing it to happen. The bombs are nice and they add plenty of excitement, but in today's game, unless you have two legitimate deep threats, it's not something that any team can plan for on any regular basis.

In order for him to once again be that threat, guys like Sanders and Brown have to develop as threats in their own right in order to draw the coverage.

But the deep ball has never been Ben's strong point anyway and he's far more accurate when he keeps his passes under 30 yards or so and that's where these three guys can really become a formidable group.

Wallace's "blazing speed" is truly an asset now, but he won't have that speed forever, so it's wise to develop him as more of an all-purpose receiver right now so that when that speed starts to diminish, he'll have all the skills well under his belt by the time that happens. He's already learned that when playing with Ben, there's a lot more to playing receiver than simply running routes and he's reading defenses and he's beginning to understand Ben's moves and he's making the adjustments for both.

I think Wallace is fast becoming "Holmes 2.0" as far as being a "go to" receiver and with even better hands and breakaway speed than Santonio, he'll be even better once he gets more comfortable.
Sanders is also looking very good in the "reading" department and like Wallace, he is very quickly becoming accustomed to Ben's style.

Brown is still a work in progress and more raw than Sanders or Wallace but I believe that he too will become a good receiver. Add Miller to the mix and maybe even Johnson as an emerging tight end and we're looking at a very bright future as far as the passing game is concerned.

As far as Hines goes, he'll always be one-of-a-kind and one of my favorite players but he IS starting to show some signs of slowing down a bit and though he hasn't quite lost a full step yet, he's definitely lost half of one. That's why the emergence of Wallace and Sanders and the promising play of Brown couldn't come at a better time.

GameTime55

12-25-2010, 09:23 PM

Not sure, will have to check. I am assuming it is some other speedster like the Eagles' DeShaun Jackson or something.

Amongst WR with at least 45 catches it goes Djax and then Wallace.

Djax 22 yd/catch.
Wallace 20.2

There are others of course who have a higher average because they only have got like two or three passes ALL year.

SteelKnight

12-26-2010, 06:16 PM

I have been debating this one to myself a lot lately.

Sure, it is better for Mike Wallace and his career to become a "compete receiver", but for our team, I think we would benefit most by getting Emmanuel Sanders up to speed as our Holmes replacement, and keep Wallace in the slot where he can continue to humiliate nickel and dime backs for 40 yards a pop.

His greatest asset is his blazing speed and acceleration. Maybe trying to make him into a "complete receiver" could be considered a case of trying to smash the sqaure peg into the round hole?